He played OK, then averaged a solid 15 points in three Big 12 Conference tournament games.

NCAA Tournament

Friday's Games

East Regional

West Virginia 77, Morgan State 50

Missouri 86, Clemson 78

Cornell 78, Temple 65

Wisconsin 53, Wofford 49

South Regional

Duke 73, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44

California vs. Louisville (n)

Purdue 72, Siena 64

Texas A&M 69, Utah State 53

Midwest Regional

Georgia Tech 64, Oklahoma State 59

Ohio State vs. UC Santa Barbara (n)

Michigan St. 70, New Mexico St. 67

Maryland vs. Houston (n)

West Regional

Gonzaga 67, Florida State 60

Syracuse vs. Vermont (n)

Xavier 65, Minnesota 54

Pittsburgh 89, Oakland, Mich. 66

More tournament coverage, Page 2DAHS 9-12, Permian 0-2

Records: Amarillo High 9-9, 2-0 in District 2-5A; Permian 6-12, 0-2.

Key Stat: Amarillo High opens district play by playing error-free baseball.

But Middleton erupted for a career-high 19 points as fifth-seeded A&M crushed 12th-seeded Utah State, 69-53, on Friday in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament's South Regional.

"Going into the game, I was a little nervous," the 6-foot-7 Middleton said. "But as we started, I was less nervous and just played."

Making your first four 3-pointers will do that. Middleton made 7-of-10 shots, including 5-of-6 3-point attempts, in 25 minutes. He came in averaging 7 points per game and shooting 29 percent from 3-point range.

A&M (24-9) advanced to the second round for the fifth consecutive year and will face No. 4 seed Purdue on Sunday.

Middleton scored 14 points in the first half as A&M built a 42-29 lead and shut down the normally efficient Utah State offense. Utah State never got untracked, shooting 38 percent - well below its season average of 49 percent - and scored 20 points below its season average.

David Loubeau added 12 points, and B.J. Holmes had 11 for A&M, which also dominated the rebounding.

"It all came down to defense," A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "I was on them pretty hard in practice this week. We did it one game. Now, we have to do it again on Sunday."

Utah State (27-8) lost its fifth consecutive first-round game. Its last win came in 2001 against Ohio State.

"I thought everybody kind of took their game to another level," A&M's Donald Sloan said. "I thought for 40 minutes that's the best defensively I've seen us in maybe weeks."

A&M was in charge from the start. Consecutive 3-pointers by Middleton keyed a 10-0 run that gave A&M a 14-5 lead. Middleton hit another 3 for a 21-13 lead as Utah State made just six of its first 14 shots.

Jaxon Myaer's basket cut the A&M lead to three points, but Middleton replied with his fourth 3-pointer, and Holmes added two as A&M took a 30-20 lead.

A&M closed with a 10-4 run during the final four minutes for a 42-29 halftime lead. A&M shot 56 percent in the first half, including 6-of-12 3-point attempts.

Utah State shot 41 percent in the first half and was outrebounded 22-11.

"We did not do a good job in terms of locating him in the corner," Utah State's Tyler Newbold said of Middleton.